[6] The same year, two letters-to-the-editor Halldór wrote also appeared in the North American-Icelandic children's newspapers Sólskin, which was published in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

[9] In 1922, Halldór moved into and considered joining the Abbaye Saint-Maurice et Saint-Maur in Clervaux, Luxembourg, where the monks followed the rules of Saint Benedict of Nursia.

Laxness wrote of his experiences in the essay Kaþólsk viðhorf (1925) and in the novels Undir Helgahnúk (1924) and Vefarinn mikli frá Kasmír (1927), the latter hailed by Icelandic critic Kristján Albertsson: Finally, finally, a grand novel which towers like a cliff above the flatland of contemporary Icelandic poetry and fiction!

He lived in the United States from 1927 to 1929, giving lectures on Iceland and attempting to write screenplays for Hollywood films.

[18] Salka Valka (1931–32) began the great series of sociological novels, often coloured with socialist ideas, continuing almost without a break for nearly twenty years.

[19] In addition to the two parts of Salka Valka, Laxness published Fótatak manna (Steps of Men) in 1933, a collection of short stories, as well as other essays, notably Dagleið á fjöllum (A Day's Journey in the Mountains) in 1937.

"[22] In 1937 Laxness wrote the poem Maístjarnan (The May Star), which was set to music by Jón Ásgeirsson and became a socialist anthem.

[23] This was followed by the four-part novel Heimsljós (World Light, 1937, 1938, 1939, and 1940), which is loosely based on the life of Magnús Hjaltason Magnusson, a minor Icelandic poet of the late 19th century.

It has been described as a novel of broad "geographical and political scope… expressly concerned with national identity and the role literature plays in forming it… a tale of colonial exploitation and the obdurate will of a suffering people.

[35] In 1945 Halldór and his second wife, Auður Sveinsdóttir, moved into Gljúfrasteinn, a new house built in the countryside near Mosfellsbær, where they started a family.

In response to the establishment of a permanent U.S. military base in Keflavík, Halldór wrote the satire Atómstöðin (The Atom Station), which may have contributed to a blacklisting of his novels in the U.S.[36]The demoralization of the occupation period is described ... nowhere as dramatically as in Halldór Kiljan Laxness' Atómstöðin (1948)... [where he portrays] postwar society in Reykjavík, completely torn from its moorings by the avalanche of foreign gold.

Laxness has not transposed his subject into a modern key; he has chosen to preserve a close link to the style of the ancient sagas.

[42][43] In 1955 Laxness was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his vivid epic power, which has renewed the great narrative art of Iceland".

His safeguard then is the astringent humour which enables him to see even people he dislikes in a redeeming light, and which also permits him to gaze far down into the labyrinths of the human soul.

[45] In his acceptance speech, Laxness spoke of:… the moral principles [my grandmother] instilled in me: never to harm a living creature; throughout my life, to place the poor, the humble, the meek of this world above all others; never to forget those who were slighted or neglected or who had suffered injustice, because it was they who, above all others, deserved our love and respect…[46]Laxness grew increasingly disenchanted with the Soviet bloc after the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

As he grew older he began to suffer from Alzheimer's disease and eventually moved into a nursing home, where he died on 8 February 1998, at the age of 95.

In 1922, Laxness met Málfríður Jónsdóttir (29 August 1896 - 7 November 2003),[55] who gave birth to his first daughter, María, on 10 April 1923.

[64][65] In 1999 her adaptation of Laxness's story Úngfrúin góða og Húsið (The Honour of the House) was submitted for consideration for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

[68] In the 21st century, interest in Laxness in English-speaking countries increased after several of his novels were reissued and the first English-language publications of Iceland's Bell (2003) and The Great Weaver from Kashmir (2008).